Archive | November, 2015

The British media coverage of the 13 November attacks on Paris and its aftermath, and in particular the analyses of certain “experts”, has been problematic. In her analysis, Natalya Vince, historian of Algeria, points out the dangers of shortcutting historical facts in favour of easy and inaccurate connections, and notably the misuse of the Algerian war to understand contemporary France. The right-wing media reaction to the horrific attacks of 13 November in Paris has been predictable. Muslim populations living in the West have been presented as an enemy within and the wave of Syrian refugees desperately seeking to enter Europe depicted as a cynical cover for the infiltration of Islamist terrorists. Such discourses will have devastating effects for Syrian refugees and Muslims living in Europe and North America. Subsequent declarations by more than half of the USA’s governors that Syrian refugees were not welcome in their states, the growing number of reports of acts of violence and hostility towards people who “look Muslim” and the vandalising of mosques clearly demonstrate this. However, as arguments go, conspiratorial claims about “Fifth columns” and “Trojan horses” are also very easy to dismiss. It is fairly obvious that they are based on crude […]